The Department of Defense announced the 2007 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award recipients. The Freedom Award is the highest recognition given by the U.S. Government to employers for their outstanding support of their employees who serve in the National Guard and Reserve:
Augustine and Sons, Inc. – Rose Hill, IA
Con-way Inc. – San Mateo, CA
Creative Healthcare Solutions – Scottsdale, AZ
Custom Hardware Engineering, Inc. – Fenton, MO
Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group – Tulsa, OK
Gantt Excavating & Construction – Martinsburg, WV
General Motors Corporation – Detroit, MI
New Hampshire State Police – Concord, NH
Nucor Corporation – Charlotte, NC
Sierra Pacific Resources – Las Vegas, NV
Sodexho USA – Gaithersburg, MD
State of Tennessee – Nashville, TN
Turbocam – Dover, NH
Ultra Machining Company – Monticello, MN
Wilmington VA Medical Center – Wilmington, DE
The Freedom Award will be presented to these organizations during a formal ceremony on Thursday, September 12, 2007 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C.
“These employers have provided exceptional support to the men and women serving in our National Guard and Reserve and now, more than ever, we appreciate and thank them for doing much more for these employees than the law requires,” said Dr. L. Gordon Sumner Jr., Executive Director of the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR.)
The ceremony is hosted by Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve. ESGR is a Department of Defense agency and its mission is to gain and maintain active support from all public and private employers for the men and women of the National Guard and Reserve.
Almost half of our military is in the Guard and Reserve and we share these citizen soldiers with their families, and uniquely, with their employers. Without the support of these employers, our Total Force cannot succeed.
The Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award is the highest in a series of Department of Defense employer awards that includes the Patriot Award, the ESGR Above and Beyond Award and the Pro Patria Award.
The formal ceremony serves to welcome these employers to the group of outstanding organizations that have received the Freedom Award throughout the past 11 years.
Previous recipients of the Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award include Starbucks Corporation, American Express, General Electric, Harley-Davidson, The Home Depot, The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Las Vegas’ MGM Mirage, the State of Vermont, Strategic Solutions Incorporated, Sprint Corporation, and the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks.
The Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve was established in 1972. Its ESGR volunteers provide free education, consultation, and if necessary mediation for employers of Guard and Reserve employees.
More information about ESGR Employer Outreach Programs and volunteer opportunities is available at http://www.esgr.mil or by calling the ESGR office at (800) 336-4590.